A Crown and Sceptre
by Exploda
Summary: It may not have seemed possible, but there were still a few things that amused Drake Merwin.


**Disclaimer:** I sadly don't own Gone, or any original characters from the series.

**Summary:** It might not have seemed possible, but there were still a few things in the world that amused Drake Merwin.

**A Crown and Sceptre**

* * *

Coates Academy was a reasonably big school. In Drake's opinion it may not have been in pristine condition, but it still held a lot of potential. _If only someone would actually use the potential correctly though_, Drake mused.

He and Diana, a dark-haired girl from the grade below, were awkwardly sitting in the school's library. Diana had her feet up on one of the desks, her longs legs folded over each other in a way that drove the hormones in most teenage boys crazy. She said, "How long will Caine be?"

"Not too much longer," Drake replied automatically. "He and that little geek were doing something in the auditorium."

"It's always so nice to know that productivity doesn't suffer during a crisis,"

Diana wasn't the type of person Drake usually got along with, let alone spent time with (The possibility that there was anyone at all who filled that category was sort of questionable.) Ever since the adults had vanished into thin air, Caine had forced them to befriend each other. Or, at least, he'd asked them to try. Caine always was too optimistic for his own good.

"Why did he want us to meet him in the library anyway?" Diana continued with a sigh. "It's a nice day and we're stuck indoors."

"Stop complaining," was all Drake said in response. Diana was getting on his last nerve - and she probably knew it too.

"Just so you can start? No thanks."

The last of the afternoon sun was beginning to disappear behind the blinds by the time Caine finally made it into the library. Diana had taken to filling her nails to avoid dying of boredom and, as Caine strolled in with a smile on his face, she didn't even look up.

It was obvious to everyone how Caine felt about Diana, and Drake wasn't completely incapable of sympathizing with him - though he didn't sympathize much. In boarding schools like the one they inhabited there was a rule: Feared freaks stuck together. It didn't even matter how much they freaked each other out, or how easily they could probably be driven to murder. It was just an unspoken rule, and it was also the only reason why Drake had stuck around waiting in a library for most of the day.

"You're late," Drake stated with a smirk.

Caine pretended not to notice the remark and perched himself onto the desk opposite, stretching out his arms behind his head.

After a pause, he cleared his throat and said, "I'm going to be king."

It took a minute for the statement to register in Drake's head, but then all of a sudden he was picturing Caine sitting on a throne, with a crown atop his head, a sceptre in his hand. The image seemed completely wrong and insane. Caine didn't have the right shape head to pull off a crown. Drake was chuckling before he could stop himself, earning a smile of agreement from Diana and a scowl from King Caine.

"I'm not joking!" he roared, jumping to his feet in what his friends could only guess was outrage. "I'll be king of Perdido Beach. We're going to run this place, man. It's going to be awesome."

Diana said, "What happened to just making agreements with them for food and necessities?"

"That will come as soon as they build him a a palace," Drake added in, forcing back his laughter.

"Don't put ideas into his head," she unfolded her legs and pitched towards Caine. "So, after you become king, you're going to make me queen. Right?"

"I hope so. Tiaras don't suit me." Drake decided that things were much better when the joke wasn't on him, when he didn't need to show people who was boss. It was a tragedy that the kid he shot hadn't learned that soon enough, but the past was far from Drake's mind. He was completely focused on getting one over on Caine.

All the adults were gone and there was a barrier around the surviving kids, that much everyone at Coates knew. It wasn't really the time for joking around, but Drake was sure that Caine knew things the others didn't and, despite himself, he would do what it took to find out that information. Apart from wear a tiara anyway.

Before Drake knew it though, the breath was knocked out of his chest and he was pinned to the ceiling of the library by some invisible force. Drake stared down at Caine in shock and outrage, kicking and lashing out until he tired. That was the one thing about teasing Caine: His power. There was no real explanation for it, no Wikipedia entry or sign that read 'Warning! Telekinetic boy! Be sensitive to his emotions or else!'

Caine could just... Do things. Things that even Drake Merwin, one of the roughest bullies at Coates, found slightly worrying.

Drake continued to struggle, and eventually Caine grinned and said, "Next time I'll pin you to the floor, just so that you can bow before your king."

"Put me down!" he said, voice raising to a shout. "Put me down or I'll fucking kill you, Caine Soren! You know I will!"

It's safe to say that Caine put him down, and that later on when Drake was alone in his room there would be an ice pack on the elbow that had broken his fall. Diana just giggled at the pair of them. It might not have seemed possible, but there were still things that amused Drake Merwin. Being dropped two metres was definitely not one of those things though.

* * *

**A/N:** Some people might think that Drake was a little out of character, however I would like to think that even psychopathic kids have a sense of humour :) This is just a one-shot story showing a scene that would've had to happen before the Coates kids drove down to Perdido Beach and took over in Gone. I doubt that a situation where Drake would potentially have to wear a tiara would ever come up. But still, feedback would be most welcome! xo


End file.
